Sterilization of jars with boiling water 

It is unlikely that anyone will argue that the sterilization stage when preparing canned food for the winter is one of the most important. After all, it is thanks to these correctly carried out procedures that you can be sure that your work will not be in vain and in winter your loved ones will be able to enjoy really tasty and healthy products with you. This article talks about one of the most ancient ways of disinfecting dishes – sterilizing jars with boiling water. The main features and subtleties of this process are highlighted, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of this method.

Tools and fixtures

Housewives have been using sterilization of jars in boiling water for more than 100 years. This is one of the most traditional ways to sterilize dishes while canning. Indeed, in boiling water, medical instruments for operations have long been sterilized. And so far, this method allows you to get rid of most of the microorganisms known to science. What do you need to sterilize with boiling water?

First of all, you need a large pot. Well, if its capacity is about 15-20 liters. However, if you have a small number of small jars, then a 5-6 liter metal container will be quite enough. For work, it is convenient that the pan has a wide bottom, that is, in terms of dimensions, its height should be much less than the diameter of its bottom.

For boiling sterilization, you will also need to prepare some clean cotton towels.

To get jars and lids out of boiling water, it is very desirable to have special tongs. Moreover, for lids, these can be ordinary household tongs, in extreme cases, in their absence. The lids can be carefully picked up with an ordinary fork. But for the safe extraction of cans, it is very desirable to have special tongs.

Usually they are two light metal parts intersecting each other like scissors, about 25-30 cm long. On one side, each part has handles in the form of rings, like scissors. On the other side of each part, the metal part is bent in the form of a half ring. When connected, they form a very convenient neck shape, with which you can simply and safely grab the top of the jar and pull it out of boiling water, both empty and full.

It is especially convenient to use this device for sterilizing cans that are already filled with something, but it can also come in handy for safely removing empty cans during boiling water.

Finally, you will need the glass jars themselves and their lids. It is their complete sterility that you need to achieve.

Preparation for sterilization

First you need to prepare the required number of cans. Always select a little more jars than you need, as putting the extra jar aside is much easier than starting the whole process over again.

It is not always safe to use sterilized jars the next day or even a few hours later – it is better not to risk your health.

All banks must be checked for cracks and possible chips. After all, even because of the slightest crack, the bank can burst during the heating process. And the chips on the neck will not make it possible to hermetically seal the jar, which means that your work may be lost. Banks, even with the slightest suspicion of mechanical damage, would be wiser to set aside.

Then the banks are thoroughly washed. If the pollution is strong, then it is better to use laundry soap when washing, and only then soda. Also, with severe pollution, you can soak all the jars in warm water with soda for several hours. Only then they are washed again with soda and rinsed thoroughly under running water.

Caps are usually new. When using reusable screw caps, make sure they are flat and not chipped. They are washed in the same way as banks.

Features of the process itself

Unfortunately, many believe that sterilization of jars with boiling water consists only in the fact that the washed jars are placed on a wooden board and filled with half or even one third of boiling water. After cooling, they are used for canning. A similar simplified method may still suit you if you are going to store products in these jars that will be eaten within a week or two, and will be stored in the refrigerator.

For long-term preservation of products for the winter, this method of sterilizing jars is completely unsuitable.

Real sterilization is as follows. In the prepared container of a large volume, you set the number of cans, preferably with the neck up, which is included in its entirety.

A pot with jars is filled with water, and the jars must also be completely filled with water. After that, the pan is put on a large fire, and the water is quickly brought to a boil. The fire can be slightly reduced and the jars boil for a certain amount of time. The very time the jars stay on fire in boiling water depends, first of all, on the volume of the jar. How long should jars boil?

Many even experienced housewives, using this sterilization technique, make a common mistake – they keep jars in boiling water for very little time, 5-6 minutes, and they think that this is quite enough. Others do not separate the boiling time of cans depending on their volume – and any cans boil for 15 minutes. Both approaches are not entirely correct, because in the latter case, for small jars, with a volume of not more than 0,5 liters, just 6-8 minutes of boiling is enough.

• Banks up to 1 liter should be boiled for 10-12 minutes.
• If the jar has a volume of 1 to 2 liters, it needs 15-18 minutes.
• Banks from 2 to 3 liters require sterilization for 20-25 minutes.
• Finally, jars of 3 liters or more need to be boiled for half an hour or more.

The time of sterilization in boiling water is one of the main safety factors of the process, since how many minutes the can is boiled depends on how guaranteed spores of various organisms will be destroyed on its surface.

Another important determinant of the safety of sterilization is how quickly, after being removed from boiling water, the jar will fill with the necessary contents and will be screwed with a sterilized lid.

It is very important not to leave sterilized jars in the air for a long time. It is advisable to immediately after removing it with tongs from boiling water and pouring out excess water, fill it with a prepared vegetable or fruit preparation. True, before filling sterilized jars with fruit preparations, it is important to dry them well. However, a can removed from boiling water, as a rule, dries very quickly at room temperature. At the same time, it must be placed neck down on an ironed towel.

Screw-on lids can be easily sterilized in the same container where the jars are sterilized. For metal lids, 15 minutes of boiling is sufficient. Special plastic canning lids are thrown into boiling water for just a few seconds, so it is better to use a separate container for them.

The advantages and disadvantages of the method

Of course, the method of sterilizing jars in boiling water has both pluses and obvious minuses. The advantages of the method include:

• Simplicity and versatility – a hot water tank can be found in any home. Moreover, such sterilization can be carried out even in field conditions on a fire in a bowler hat, if necessary.
• Sterilization of lids can be carried out directly together with the jars – no separate dishes are needed.
• Boiling water sterilization is ideal for small jars that fit easily into almost any pot.

But the method also has its drawbacks:

• The kitchen or other room in which sterilization is carried out is filled with hot steam, which is quite unpleasant, especially in the summer heat. Moreover, with a large number of blanks, the room risks turning into a real bath.
• If the water used is quite hard, then all the salts settle on the inner surface of the cans to then mix with your blanks.

Nevertheless, despite all the possible difficulties, sterilization of jars in boiling water is still popular among housewives, due to its simplicity, especially in summer and rural conditions, where modern kitchen appliances are not always available.